Silicon (Si), in the form of sand, is one of the most abundant elements on the earth's crust, is used in a variety of applications ranging from construction materials such as clay and concrete to soluble silicates and ultra pure silicon used for solid state electronic devices.
Si can also provide a major breakthrough in the production of eco-friendly clean energy. The threat of depletion of the non-renewal energy resources such as fossil fuels for producing energy can be safely handled, if Si based energy production technology is established. The primary raw material used for production of Si is sand (SiO2) which forms about 25.7 wt % of earth's crust. The method of synthesizing Si from sand has been attempted from ancient times. Sonic of the conventional reactions for conversion of sand to silicon are carbothermic, magnesiothermic and aluminothermic. These reactions require availability of temperatures in the range of 2000° C. to 3000° C. As such, there has not been much development of these methods of producing Si from sand. For industrial purposes, sand is reduced to pure Si by heating it with coke at temperatures above 3000° C. which produces a large amount of Carbon Di-Oxide (CO2). This method has high energy consumption and generates non-eco-friendly gases (CO2) during this process of synthesis.
The above information is presented as background information only to help the reader to understand the present invention. Applicants have made no determination and make no assertion as to whether any of the above might be applicable as Prior Art with regard to the present application.